Trip Through History
by PurpleVix
Summary: CH3 up! Drogo, Elanor, Daisy, and Halley finally set out after meeting a rather peculiar wizard, Paralest the Red. He tells them a deeper reason for their journey.
1. Chapter 1

Halley slammed her specially-sized locker shut and started down the hallway. She was a hobbit, still in her tweens. The school she went to had separate halls, desks, and other such things for all of the various peoples in her home of Middle Earth.  
  
In the Shire-reckoning, it was the year 2002. She went into her history class and looked up at a wall. There above the green chalkboard was pictures of the four most famous hobbits in history: Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Samwise Gamgee, and last but not least in all accounts, Frodo Baggins.  
  
"Miss Brandybuck," said the teacher, Mr. Proudfoot. "You're late."  
  
"You misunderstand, Sir. I am never late nor early, I arrive exactly when I mean to," Halley said. This stirred up laughs from her classmates.  
  
"Sit down young lady! This happens again you'll be paying a visit to the principal!"  
  
Halley did so and looked over to one of her best friends, Elanor, with a giggle. She laughed as well.  
  
"Today, we start Chapter 20: The War of the Ring. This is very involved but since this is Shire history, we will just be covering its effects here at home. Next year, when you get into Middle Earth history, it will be covered in much more detail. Open your books to page 237..." said the teacher as he started the lesson for the day.  
  
Halley leaned over to Elanor again. "This chapter is going to be so easy for us! I have the perfect idea for a group project like he so loves to assign."  
  
"Really? Great! We can talk to Daisy about it later."  
  
"Ladies, since you seem to feel that you have no need to pay attention to today's lesson, maybe you could give me the names of the Hobbits that left the Shire on the first leg of the journey?" Mr. Proudfoot said as he leaned over Haley's desk.  
  
"Of course!" she stood up. "There would be Meriadoc Brandybuck, my grandfather, many times removed of course, also known as Merry; Peregrin "Pippin" Took, Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins." She pointed to each of the pictures on the wall as she spoke.  
  
"Wrong! Merry went to Crickhollow beforehand. It was just Frodo, Sam and Pippin that left Bag End that night. Now sit down before I send you to the office!" the teacher scolded.  
  
'It's hard to believe that they actually gave people in their tweens any respect,' she thought as she sat down.  
  
Elanor had become a Gamgee name and it had gone down through the generations to most of the girls. Halley's friend Elanor was a direct descendent of the stoic hobbit. They also had a friend named Daisy Took who was a direct descendent of the third in the historic group, Pippin Took. They had all made it a point to become close friends because of their mutual history.  
  
Near the end of class, Mr. Proudfoot turned from the chalkboard. "I almost forgot, we have a new student with us today. Everyone, meet Morwen. She has moved here from Mirkwood. Do make her feel at home." He pointed to an Elf girl sitting in the corner. While the school was mostly hobbits, the doors were open to other races of the land and Elves, people of Rohan and Gondor, and Dwarves were in abundance.  
  
The rest of the day was uneventful and the three girls, Elanor, Daisy, and Halley, were all at their lockers which were right near each other. "How surprising, Proudfoot gave us a project to go with this chapter," Daisy said as she stuffed her books in her backpack.  
  
"I've got the perfect idea!" Halley said. She shut her locker and slung her bag up on her shoulder. "You guys come on over to my hole and I'll tell you all about it. It's something that only we can do and it's a guaranteed 'A'. That is, if we pull it off."  
  
The other two girls grinned and ran off with her.  
  
"Halley! wait up!" a guy called after her once they were outside.  
  
She stopped and looked up at him. "What do you want, Bill?"  
  
The man looked at her. She was tall for a hobbit but he still had a couple feet on her. "Do you have a date for the dance next week?"  
  
"Even if I didn't, I wouldn't go with you," she said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
She looked at her two friends with a mischeivous glint in her eye. She turned back to him. "Let's see, you're a loser, you can't dance your way out of a wet paper bag, and besides, I have a date." She and the other two turned to leave.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"That's for me to know and you to fid out, that is, if anyone will go with you."  
  
Once the girls were out of earshot, Daisy asked Halley, "So who's your date?"  
  
"Psh, you kidding me? You actually think I'm going to go to that lame dance? Hah! I'm going to Buckland High's dance. That's going to be a lot more fun than good old Hobbiton's." He said the last bit with a lot of sarcasm. The other girl aughed in agreement and then started talking about what to wear.  
  
By the time they reached Halley's hole, they had decided to go shopping the following weekend to get something special for the dance. They went into Halley's bedroom and made themselves at home.  
  
"So what's your idea for the project?" Elanor asked while she reached into a bag of cheese curls.  
  
Halley sat up from where she had been lying on her stomache on her bed. "We re-enact the journey, all the way to Minas Tirith!"  
  
"Are you crazy?! One, we only have a week and two, we won't make it back in time for the Baggins' day dance!" Daisy said.  
  
"I'm not done yet! We ask Old Proudfoot if we could have a special extension for the time it'll take for us to go. We'll leave after the dance on Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays, just like they did then!"  
  
"The farthest my parents have ever let me go is Bree," Daisy said. "And that was only with my big brother there. They'll never let me go."  
  
"If you explain that it's a school project they will. Besides, we won't be walking. I'll talk to Fred and see if we can't borrow a car for the trip. We'll take a camcorder and do a little schpeel about what happened at each site. Crickhollow, the Old Forest, Barrow-downs, maybe we can find Tom Bombadil!"  
  
"The Old Forest?" Elanor shouted. "You've gotta be kidding! That place was creepy then, I can't imagine what it's like now."  
  
"The Buckland gate still works by most accounts."  
  
Daisy shook her head. "That has to be the scariest part of the whole journey, that is, before Mordor." She paused and then perked up again. "Did you hear? They're starting to develop that land into a place where someone could actually live. It took a few hundred years for all that rankness to go away."  
  
"All the more reason to hurry. We want to get there when it's in as true of condition as possible."  
  
"Are we going to find other people to go with us? There were nine in the original group," Daisy said while crunching some chips.  
  
"You're disgusting, Daisy," Elanor laughed.  
  
Daisy threw a pillow at her. "Shut it, Gamgee."  
  
"We'll definately need to find someone here in town to go with us, as close to a Baggins relation as possible. Too bad Frodo didn't make a family here before he went to the Havens."  
  
The girls thought a moment. They all looked at each other at the same time with excitement. "Drogo!!!" they all said at the same time.  
  
"Girls! Dinner!" Halley's mother called. The girls raced out of the room and into the dining room.  
  
After dinner, they went out. They went to a hangout area and found a lot of people from school. "Hey guys! Let me see some of that Southfarthing fruit!" Halley said. "Southfarthing fruit" was Halley's phrase for pipe- weed. You couldn't smoke until you were "of age" but she had some friends that were and gave it to her. The shirrifs didn't do anything except make you put it out if you got caught.  
  
Someone gave her some and she blew a couple rings. "Hah! Eat your heart out, Drogo!" she said to a friend who prided himself on his rings. He was a Baggins but he didn't like to admit it due to its history. He knew that there were bad people out there that would hate him for simply that reason.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Drogo said as he leaned against the lone mallorn tree. It was nearing fall so its leaves were turning a beautiful shade of gold.  
  
"We've got a plan to pass Proudfoot's class with flying colors, Drogo, and we need you." Daisy said.  
  
"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Drogo said after letting out a couple rings.  
  
"Because you don't trust us! Come on!" The three girls led him out to another area of the Party Field which was starting to be turned into a carnival ground. The whole week before Baggins' day there was a carnival in the very field that the Eleventy-first birthday party was held in.  
  
They told him their plan and he had a similar reaction that Daisy did. They talked him into it and made plans to gather their parents into one room and attempt the same with them. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, they all went to Drogo's hole in New Row. It was just a few holes down from Bag End which was occupied by the Cottons, the most affluent family in Hobbiton. Drogo's hole was the largest amongst the three girls and himsel and herefore had enough room for he extra guests.  
  
In the middle of dinner, the for tweens looked at each other. "Everyone, we have something to ask," Drogo said.  
  
The four youths reached under their chairs and picked up hobbit- swords. Not just any, the very same ones their most notable ancestor of each family had carried. They set them on the table above their plates. "You all recognize these, right? These are the very same swords that Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo carried with them for most of their journey."  
  
"Where did you find that?" Drogo's mother asked. "I thought we had it locked up." "You did. You forget who you're talking to here," Drogo said. Drogo was very sneaky when he wanted to be and could do almost anything in the greatest degree of stealth.  
  
"We have a project in history to do and we came up with the idea to take the very same journey that we're studying right now in history."  
  
"No, absolutely not!" Halley's father said.  
  
"Why not?" Halley protested.  
  
"Because you're still in your tweens! You're not old enough!" he replied.  
  
"So were Merry and Pippin!"  
  
"That's not the point-"  
  
"This is a part of our History grade!" Daisy said.  
  
"How will you be getting there?" Mr. Took asked.  
  
"Halley's brother will be lending us a car," Daisy said.  
  
Her parents looked teach other. "Alright, we've always wanted you to take an interest in your family history," Mr. Took said.  
  
"Yes! Thanks Daddy!" she hugged them.  
  
Drogo and Elanor's parents felt the same but Halley was still trying to convince them. the three of them now sat on the front porch.  
  
"Dad, this is the chance of a lifetime. Elanor and Drogo are both out of their tweens so they can look after me," Halley said.  
  
"It's too far. If you were just going to Rivendell then I might but all the way south? That's a little far. It's just a Shire history class, so you can go as far as Bree. Then you must come back."  
  
"By myself?"  
  
"I have friends there that will escort you home."  
  
Halley stood up, furious. "I can't beileve this! I'm sick of being treated like a little kid! I can survive on my own, Dad. You made it a point to train me in self-defense 'just in case'. Don't you have any faith in my abilities?"  
  
"I have lots of faith in them-"  
  
Halley cut him off. "Then why the hell can't I go?"  
  
"Because I said so and it's final! Either come back when you reach Bree or nothing at all!"  
  
Halley stomped off toward the mallorn with tears of anger streaming down her face. She didn't reply to her father because she knew that if she said what she wanted to she would get grounded from the Baggins' Day festivities.  
  
When she reached the large tree she climbed up onto her favorite branch and cried. She was so frustrated, that was the only way she knew to express it. Once she had calmed she watched the sun set. Soon her friends would begin to gather under the tree.  
  
The week until Baggins' Day was exciting. There was no school that week so that people could spend time at the carnival. Halley and her girlfriends signed up for the dunk tank. All young hobbits were taught to swim in the Brandywine when they are but a few years old.  
  
"Come on! Come and knock me down ya wimps!" Halley taunted from the seat over the pool. She had only been dunked twice and her two hour shift was coming to an end. She was looking forward to going to the dining tent in time for dinner.  
  
A man with a long, dark, old-fashioned cloak walked up. He silently handed his money to Elanor and she handed him a few baseballs with shaky hands. He had a bad air about him that scared her.  
  
Halley saw deep eyes under the hood and she watched him closely as he prepared his throw. He threw it hard. There was no fencing between her and the ball as it hurtled toward her head. She slid off the seat and into the water to keep it from hitting her n the head. It left a big dent in the bag of the tank and there was a loud noise like a bell. The target was well below where the ball actually went.  
  
Halley came up sputtering. The water came up to about her shoulders. "What the hell are you trying to do, man, take my friggin' head off?" she complained while she wiped the water out of her eyes.  
  
He quick as a wink fired off the second ball. Again it rushed at her head. She ducked underwater and it made a similar result as before. Drogo stood between him and his target. "Sir, may I ask what you are doing?" he said.  
  
The man still said nothing as he wound up for his next throw. Just as he was going to bring his arm forward, a shirriff stepped up behind him and grabbed his arm. "All right, Mister, that's quite enough. Put down the ball and leave the premesis."  
  
The man dropped the ball. He turned to the shiriff. He seized the hobbit's gaze and stepped toward him. Halley struggled out of the tank. The man reached inside his cloak and produced a long sword. Drogo and Elanor exchanged a look and both tackled him simultaneously. The man was knocked to the ground as the shiriff blinked away his bewitchment.  
  
Drogo grabbed the sword and pulled it away. He held it by its hilt but the end rested on the ground well in front of him. "What gives you the balls to come here and do this?" he challenged. 'Where are those Men we hired into the shiriffs for jut this occasion?'  
  
The man shoved Eleanor off of him as though she were nothing and she flew into the support post of a nearby tent. Daisy ran over to her. He stood up and approached Drogo slowly, threateningly. Drogo caught the man's eyes and was transfixed. Terrified, the sword dropped from his hands with a clatter. All seemed silent around him. He took a shaky step backward as the man loomed over him. Drogo's eyes were wide with fright.  
  
A shrill whistle rang out. The man whirled around, relasing Drogo from his eyes. The young hobbit fell to the ground as out of breath as he would be if he had been running in gym class. Halley went up to him. "Are you okay?" she asked as she crouched next to him. All he could do is nod while he struggled for his breath.  
  
Now there were two Men on fine horses. 'Finally,' Drogo thought.  
  
"Excuse me sir, if you do not stop harassing these people, we will arrest you," said the one on the right. The other was getting off of his horse.  
  
The stranger picked up his sword and prepared to fight. "I'd like to see you try," came the hissing, snakelike voice. It made Drogo's face blanch.  
  
The horsed officer grabbed his radio. "We're going to need reinforcements at the carnival. Come to the dunk tank. Assault in progress."  
  
The stranger lunged at the other officer. The officer fired a stun gun that froze him in his place. He reached up and yanked off the hood so his face was visible. There was nothing there. A dark cloud seeped out from under the cloak like smoke and vanished in the sky. The cloak and sword fell to the ground and then fizzled like water in a hot frypan until all that was left was a hilt and a brooch.  
  
"That... was weird," Drogo said.  
  
"Are you kids okay?" asked the other officer. He got off his horse when the man struck and now was at Elanor's side. Her shoulder was bruised due to the impact of hitting the bar but she was fine. Halley helped Drogo up and let him lean on her.  
  
"Yeah, we're okay," she said. "Any idea who that was?"  
  
"Something that hasn't been seen for hundreds of years," said the first officer. He wouldn't say anything further and then got their statements. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next night, Halley was getting ready for the dance. She was also starting to pack for her trip. She put on a pair of hoop earrings and then looked herself over in the mirror. "Lookin' good if I do say so myself."  
  
There was a knock on the door. "Come on in, Tom!" Tom Cotton was her date to the Buckland High dance. Afterwards there would be fireworks and then the girls and Drogo would set out.  
  
"Hey Halley! Looking good as usual!" Tom said.  
  
"Thank you!" she zipped up her backpack and put it next to her door with the camcorder bag. "Let's go!"  
  
They met Daisy and her date, Bill Sandyman, and Elanor and Drogo at the end of the street. They were one big group of friends so it was really laid back. They got into a big car and Halley's brother drove them to Buckland High, in view of the Brandywine.  
  
The dance was lots of fun and the whole group was tired as they made their way to the field where the fireworks were to take place. Once they got there and ate a little, they were spirited again and were causing their own fair shared of trouble. When they saw the man doing the fireworks grab a couple out of the back of his truck and go to where he was shooting them, Halley and Daisy looked at each other. They grinned and ran over to it.  
  
"Which one?" Halley whispered to Daisy. "That one's pretty big."  
  
"Look at that one!" Daisy pointed to one that was as tall as a man and big around as an old gaffer. Halley snatched it and the two sneaked quietly away like only hobbits can. They hid in some brush while they figured out how to light it. "I've got matches!" Daisy pulled a pack out of her pocket.  
  
"Great!" The went into a clearer part of the field to light it. That's when Halley saw what was written on it. "Finale" and then an Elvish letter. She knew little Elvish, being in her first year of the class in school so she didn't know what it was but that it looked familiar from somewhere. She struck the match and lit the long fuse on the bottom. The two girls stood back and waited.  
  
A moment later, it went off. It shot into the air. The sparks formed a map of Middle Earth. It seemed to zoom in on Mordor and there was a tall, smoking, mountain. It exploded into ring-shaped sparks that fell harmlessly to the ground.  
  
"That... was cool. how about another?" Daisy said. Halley grinned and turned to run back toward the truck. They ran into a very tall person. They looked up and their jaws dropped. "G-G-G-Gandalf?" Daisy stammered. Halley was equally surprised.  
  
"I should expect as much from a Brandybuck and a Took." He pushed them toward the main group. Drogo, Bill, Tom, and Elanor were all laughing. "You two stay here. I want a word with the travellers before they leave."  
  
"Of course," Halley said. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Havens?"  
  
"I would if I were Gandalf. I'm not. I'm bigger, meaner, and a whole lot less hairy. I'm Paralest the Red." He was very much red. He had back pants and shirt with a bright red cloak over it all, red hair and a big red hat.  
  
"Wow," Drogo said.  
  
The rest of the fireworks were great, rivaling those that were seen on the night that they were commemorating. Once the Buckland fireworks were over, everyone truned to see the Hobbiton fireworks.  
  
When the time came for the group to leave, they were met at the car by Paralest. "I have a favor to ask of you," he said.  
  
"What is that?" Halley said. She had taken the leadership of the group upon herself.  
  
"I'm sure all of you had heard about the housing developments being buil in Mordor. They must stop. No one may occupy that land."  
  
"Why? I though everything was okay there," Drogo said.  
  
"You've forgotten Shelob! She still lives and is very hungry. Since Barad-dur fell she has only been able to eat a stray orc or two every few years. She has already snapped up several of the construction crews but they have not told that on the news. I want you four to do away with her for good."  
  
"Is anyone else's neck hurting?" Drogo said as he rubbed it. The mere thought of coming across that creature gave him chills. They really were going to be redoing the journey.  
  
"But there's a problem, my dad is making me turn back at Bree," Halley said.  
  
"I wil take care of that. You will meet a friend of mine there if not me. You'll be going on your own. Go ahead and go through the Old Forest and do your assignment as you planned but do watch out for strange characters. There are some of the construction workers walking about in a poison- induced stupor carrying out various orders from Shelob."  
  
"Like that guy at the carnival last night?" Halley said. The memory of the baseball hurling toward her head and the eyes flashed in her brain.  
  
"No, he is one of the remaining Nazgul in a different form."  
  
They all looked at each other. Drogo went pale. Elanor nearly fainted. "I thought they all vanished!" Daisy said.  
  
"I don't quite know why they're back but they are so look out for more like him. You'd better get moving." He helped them pack their luggage into the car. "Bye!"  
  
They waved through the window as they drove away across the Brandywine Bridge.  
  
By car, they made fantastic time. The road was empty except for an occaional person on a horse. People went by horse for short trips and car for longer or if there are ladies in skirts and heels present.  
  
"Okay, enough of these damn heels," Halley pulled them off and just let herelf go barefoot. She hated shoes and most modern hobbits didn't because the art of a comfortable hobbit shoe had been perfected. Daisy and Elanor followed suit.  
  
"When do we turn off toward the Old Forest?" Drogo asked Elanor who was doing the navigating while Daisy drove.  
  
"Uhm... coming up in a few minutes here," Elanor said after referring to the map. "Slow down a bit, girl, so we don't miss it in the dark- there it went!"  
  
"Dammit!" Daisy turned he car around and found the turn. They neared the Buckland Gate and the guard stopped their car.  
  
"Lemme up there," Halley said. She moved up between the two seats and leaned toward the window. "Hello sir!"  
  
"Hello ladies, I can only let you through if you've got the passcard," said the guard. He seemed half Hobbit half Man which wasn't too uncommon in this era.  
  
Halley pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Thank you very much Miss Brandybuck, have a good evening!"  
  
"You too," Halley said with a seductive smile and wink. The guard opened the gate and Daisy floored it through. Halley laughed loudly at the guard's reaction to both her flirting and the speed at whcih they travelled.  
  
A few minutes later, they found the Withywindle. They ran out of road. "What do we do now?"  
  
"All the better for a re-enactment. Tomorrow morning, we foot it," Drogo said. "After we find Bombadil, we can come back here, leave the way we came and go around the forest down to the Barrows."  
  
Daisy looked around at the tall trees. "Is anyone else scared?"  
  
"You're just letting what that old wizard said get to your head," Elanor said.  
  
"Day 1 of the journey," Halley said with the camera on. "We've run out of road in our car at the Withywindle creek and tomorrow we're going to set out on foot down it to find Tom Bombadil. There have been rumors that say that he's not quite the same jolly guy he used to be. We're going to see if that's true or not."  
  
She pointed it at Drogo. "Got anything to say to everyone?" she said. "Extreme close up!!!" she laughed as she just about shoved the camera up his nose. He took a step back to get away.  
  
"Mom, Dad, if this Bombadil guy really is bad news, and he takes it out on us, I just want you to know that I love you guys!" Drogo said.  
  
"Don't talk ike that! I'm already creeped out!" Daisy said. "Gimme that!" she took the camera from Halley and pointed it around her at the trees. "Isn't this spooky? I feel like at any minute a ghost is going to pop out of nowhere and go," she snuck up behind Elanor who was looking for something in the trunk while she spoke. "Boo!" She tapped her back real quick.  
  
Elanor jumped and hit her head on the trunk lid. "Ow! Don't do that to me girl!" Elanor whined. Drogo and Halley were laughing in the background.  
  
Daisy stepped up to them. "You see, the thing about Drogo and Halley is, they're ecretly in love and Halley wants to have Drogo's chicldren you heard it here first on 'Fool of a Took Gossip Corner'."  
  
Halley snatched her camera away and pointed it at herself using the flip screen as a guide to make sure she was actually in the frame. "And that ends our first day. See you in the morning! Bye!" The other three gathered behind her and said their goodbyes and waved.  
  
Halley shut off the camera and laughed. "God, we're such dorks. Note to self: be absent when this is shown in class."  
  
"I can edit it at my place," Drogo said. "My dad can help with all kinds of cool titles and stuff so it'll be great!"  
  
"Yay! I knew this was a great idea!" Elanor said excitedly. Her squeal echoed through the forest.  
  
"Yeah, glad I thought of it," Drogo said smugly.  
  
"Yeah, sure, okay," Halley said.  
  
They camped out for the night, Drogo slept on top of the car while Daisy and Elanor slept inside and Halley on the ground outside. 


End file.
